photography

desert things: sand, rocks & cacti

Our last stop before returning to reality: Joshua Tree.

If you’ve never been to Joshua Tree, here’s a couple of quick facts about the state park:

  1. It’s a desert.
  2. There’s a variety of strange and interesting vegetations.
  3. At one point, there’s a bunch of rocks which you can try to climb on.
  4. You probably won’t be able to find a better place around to stargaze.
  5. Every part of the park is picture perfect.
  6. If you live in Los Angeles or the greater LA area, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t visit Joshua Tree at least once.

If you ever do decide to visit Joshua Tree, enter from the south of the park and you won’t be charged an entrance fee. It’s about 50 miles to drive through the park, which would take about an hour and a half if you don’t make any stops (which is highly unlikely). Although the road is very curvy, the drive is definitely enjoyable because you are constantly surrounded by strange looking desert plants. They’re super ugly but that makes them kind of cute too. Judge for yourself.

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Here comes the rocky part that I was talking about. Its super cool how the rocky hills consist of hundreds of individual boulders that pile on top of each other like they are purposefully placed there. I still have no idea how the landscape had been created naturally overtime, but it’s so fascinating to see (and climb) these rocks. There’s also a huge rock with holes/caves in it, which I believe is called the Skull Rock. Scary, but it really does look like a skull. It’s fun to try to scramble your way up the rocks to get a better view of the area – just make sure you can get down.

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Our very last stop in Joshua Tree is a hidden gem on the north of the park. If you exit from the northern entrance and continue to head northwest, you’ll find this little museum in the middle of the desert. It’s called the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum and it’s absolutely amazing.

For about the last fifteen years of his life, Purifoy lived in Joshua Tree to create assemblage sculptures from scrap that he collects. The scale of the museum is incredible. It feels like a deserted little town that is built from the imagination of the artist. Every piece of sculpture that Purifoy created is also extremely thought-provoking. The emptiness of the constructions contrasts with purposeful details to create a paradoxical combination of simplicity and complexity. There’s a strong sense of wistful nostalgia for a simpler time. It’s also free – so do pay this little gem a visit if you’re ever in the area.

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Annnnnd that’s a wrap. Last photo is of the amazing view we saw on our way back to LA when we drove past Big Bear Mountain. Shout out to Brandon for being the best road trip buddy and for driving most of the trip.

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Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye

1700 miles / 4 days / 3 states

 

Yeah that was fun.

 

xx

– vivian

the grand canyon

On the third day of our trip, we finally reached the legendary Grand Canyon. To be honest, I really didn’t expect much. Growing up, I believe it’s safe to say that we’ve all heard about or seen photos of how magnificent the National Park is. I guess I was pretty cynical – what is so great about a huge ditch in the center of Arizona?

First of all, the canyon is huge. Not that I didn’t already know it’s big, but seeing the size of it still amazed me to the soul. There’s a trail around the canyon that tourists are encouraged to follow, but there’s really no point in following the trail because the view doesn’t change much. It’s like an ant looking into an empty swimming pool. The juxtaposition is real.

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If you ever decide to visit the Grand Canyon, you HAVE to drive the extra 20 something miles to Desert View Watchtower. Hop across the fence, hike down a little bit and you’ll see the this priceless view. My friend and I chose the spot below and just sat there in complete silence. Neither of us knew what to say. It sounds strange, but the landscape was so inspirational. For hundreds of miles ahead of us, there is nothing but rocks, sand and trees. Not only is it so refreshing to take a break from the bustling fast-paced city life, I felt empowered and energized from just observing the broad horizons. I remember smiling and thinking to myself: “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

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After the Grand Canyon, we took a detour to Phoenix to drop some of our friends off before heading back to LA. We spent the night in the city of Blythe, which lies on the boarder between California and Arizona. We arrived at a shitty little motel at 12am, and spent ten minutes ringing the bell at the front desk before a tired receptionist came out to give us our keys to a pretty rundown room.  Yes, taking a road trip with a budget leads to less pleasant experiences like this, but all the beautiful things you see don’t look half as good without these rough experiences on the road. I guess that’s a part of the charm of road trips.

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Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye

Last post on our little journey will be up tomorrow: lots of sand & sun & smiles at Joshua Tree!

xx

– vivian

city of rocks

As the efficient and productive people we are, we managed to visit one more spot after our day in Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. For some reason, we thought it’d be cool if we drove across the boarder into Utah. An hour into driving, we noticed our phones had jumped an hour ahead because we had entered a different timezone. (Wtf?!! That was the first time I ever crossed timezones on land!) We continued to speed towards the valley as the sun began to set. We watched as the sunlight softened and transformed the land into a warm field of gold. Ahh I still can’t get over how beautiful that sight was.

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Monument Valley – I am at a lost of words. We had to pay ($20 I think?) to get into the park but it was so worth it. I sat on the same spot for an hour just staring at the stone statues against a changing backdrop. I’ve always found peace and joy in sunsets, but the sunsets in Utah are extra soothing. I’ll just let my photos do the talking:

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I really wish we could have spent the night at Monument Valley, but our schedule didn’t give us the liberty of time. But no regrets, because I am definitely coming back here soon in the future.

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Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye

Next stop: Grand Canyon.

 

xx

– vivian

caves of red and rivers of blue

All along our road trip, we’ve been seeing some breathtakingly magnificent views. I’ve concluded that I’ll never get bored of driving in Arizona because the beautiful landscape will never fail to amaze me. It’s so exciting how there could be a drop-dead gorgeous scene waiting for us after every turn we make. Sometimes after driving uphill for a while, we’d find ourselves on a peak where every obstacle in sight is no longer visible, and we are faced with a vast amount of bare, flat, earth in a variety of magical colors (apparently because they possess different minerals). We also got to observe how the landscape changed as we sped down curvy roads. At one point, there was nothing but sand on our left, rocks ahead of us, and trees on our right. Seeing entirely natural patches yellow, red and green laid out so blatantly before me is a sight that I have never even imagined.

It doesn’t sound half as fascinating as it looks in person, and I’m afraid even my vibrant photos can’t possibly capture how it feels like to be there in the center of nature’s raw creations.

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Our first stop was Antelope Canyon. We had to join a tour group (which I don’t particularly like) to venture down to the underground world of red and orange but it was so worth it because the Lower Antelopes was nothing like anything I’ve ever set eyes upon before. Yes, the photos were edited and highly saturated but trust me when I say the rocks are actually colored a brilliant red.

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The best thing about the canyon is the occasional beams of sunlight that shine through the gaps between the rocks. They cast a spectrum of red on the intricate patterns printed on the rocks – apparently created by years of flash flooding against the sandstone rocks – which highlights the shapes and forms of the rocks. Somehow the patterns reminded me of ceramics; of smooth lines created by gentle pressure that is applied to a piece of clay on a pottery wheel. It’s been a week but I am still in awe of how this sort of meticulous conformity exists and is preserved in nature.

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Our next stop was the Horseshoe Bend: a crystal clear river of blueness in the middle of a rocky desert. Not to mention the shapes of rocks do present an uncanny resemblance of a horseshoe. The scale of this site is also unbelievable. My friend and I tried to climb on top of a hill of rocks to get a full view of the landscape but concluded that it’s quite impossible to see the entire canyon unless we’re on a helicopter or something. And yes, those are little boats docked on the edge of the river. How did people even get down there? I have no idea but I’d love to know. That place must look a lot like paradise.

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Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye

Check back in a few days for a post on Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon!

xx

– vivian

road tripping in vibrant colors

Last week, over the second half of my spring break, I went on a pretty spontaneous road trip with a good friend of mine. Our original plan was simply to see the Grand Canyon (which we did), but we also ended up visiting Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Monument Valley and even managed to stop by Joshua Tree on our way back.

We drove 1700 miles across 3 states in 4 days. It sounds like a lot, but neither of us were exhausted or frustrated at any point. The trip was perfect. Perfect. I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Here’s a lil’ preview of the trip taken on our way to Phoenix to pick up some friends who joined us on our little journey:

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Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye and M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6

Oh and yes, after talking about this for years, I’ve finally started my own blog!! I’d tell you it’s because I’m a passionate writer and photographer who aspires to be an inspiration for all those adventurous souls out there but really… I just have a ton of gorgeous photos and I can’t dump them all on Instagram. I hope you all enjoy my little internet gallery and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!

 

xx

– vivian